Pasadena Rosebud Academy Placed On Lockdown as Mama Bear and Cub Seen Roaming The Halls

Students and faculty at Pasadena Rosebud Academy in Altadena were surprised by some unwanted, and potentially dangerous, visitors when a large black bear and her cub were seen wandering the grounds of the school while it was in session this morning.

Academy Founder and Director Shawn Brumfield said that bears had been seen in the neighborhood as recently as this weekend and that a student had spotted the duo wandering inside the elementary school at 3544 Canon Blvd.

“One of our eighth-grade students was coming from the cafeteria, and he was walking down the hall…he’d seen the bear and immediately came to the office and alerted us and said, ‘There’s a bear out there,’” Brumfield said.

The school was immediately placed on lockdown, as was Oak Knoll Montessori’s Loma Alta campus, which shares space with Rosebud. Faculty then monitored the movement of the bears as they waited for help to arrive from the Crescenta Valley sheriff’s department.

Brumfield said that it was apparent the bears were foraging for food, as they were looking in trash cans and did not appear to be aggressive. By the time authorities arrived, the bears had wandered away from campus and classed resumed. No one was injured.